March for quality jobs for young

We're calling for jobs and training for all young people... for apprenticeships that pay a living wage and have a guaranteed job at the end of them

Lana Morgan, school leaver

A march and rally in Rhondda has called for spending on creating "quality" jobs for graduates and school leavers.

Saturday's march was organised by the trade union-backed group Youth Fight for Jobs campaign.

Marchers and trade unionists assembled in front of Tonypandy job centre before marching through Tonypandy and Penygraig to Porth.

One of the organisers, Lana Morgan, 18, or Porth, said: "The government needs to invest in young people."

Ms Morgan, the Youth Fight for Jobs local organiser for Porth, said the level of unemployment in the Rhondda area was one of the highest in the country.

"Even before the recession hit, most young people had low paid, insecure jobs," she said.

"Now, even people coming out of university are facing unemployment. There's nothing out there.

"The jobs you can get are not stable or else they offer the minimum wage which is not enough.

"The government has spent billions bailing out the bankers. We're calling for jobs and training for all young people. We're calling for apprenticeships that pay a living wage and have a guaranteed job at the end of them."

'Good response'

Amonng those supporting the campaign are the Rail, Maritime and Transport Union, Communication Workers Union, Public and Commercial Services Union and the Socialist Party.

Ms Morgan, who has just sat her A levels and is hoping to begin studying archaeology in September, said she was aware that a university education was no guarantee of a quality job.

"Both my sister and my brother's girlfriend have left university with degrees and they are both still searching for work," she said.

"My sister has two degrees, in sociology and law, and she is finding it very difficult to get into a law job.

"But it's not just graduates. Most of the people who leave school this year in the Rhondda will find it hard to get work."

The march was part of two weeks of action in a UK-wide campaign on the issue of youth unemployment, as 600,000 young people across the UK leave full-time education this summer.